Great performances all round for Harriers Middle Distance Squad

North Mids League

The 4^th and final race of the North Mids cross country series concluded at Berry Park Mansfield.

This year the series clashed with other races for some of the Harriers middle distance squad but Rafferty Davey and Oli Smith travelled to complete the series in the u11 and u13 races.

Davey sat in 2^nd place in the series and started the race knowing that he had to finish ahead of Morgan Fletcher of Burton AC to protect his lead. The race and u11 boys series was won by the impressive Kieran James ranked UK #1 from Wreake, but 2^nd place was in the balance.

Fletcher set off with determination and had a 10m lead over Davey after 500m heading into the twisty, woodland area of the course. The Harriers youngster has proven that he is always up for a battle and so it proved as both boys exchanged positions and were neck and neck with 250m to go.

The course entered a long uphill section and the determination of both athletes was admirable but Rafferty put in a kick and finally Fletcher could not respond to lead by 2s and finish 7s behind James and confirmed his 2^nd place series position.

U11 Rafferty Davey superb second place in the North Midland XC League

Bottom year Oli Smith ran in the u13 boys race and finished a commendable 21^st position to finish 10^th overall in the series. Smith is 11 years and raced boys 2 years his senior and the experience will stand him in excellent stead for the future.

Indoor athletics

A number of the squad continues to trail indoor running and at the latest open meeting at Lee Valley there was a notable performance from Emily Williams who is gradually making her way back to good form following two disastrous years heavily affected by the pandemic and her first two years studying at Birmingham University.

Williams won her first 800m race in two and a half years with a very credible performance of 2:15.92, taking on the race with 450m to go she looked effortless through to the line, and this bodes well for Williams who is determined to make her way back to the sort of form which saw her win 3 back to back English schools titles and a European U18 silver medal.

Emily Williams Impressive opening 800m looking to get back to her best in 2022

There we good performances from Josh Geddes & Dylan Bowley who both registered times just off their outdoor PB’s with 1:58.86 & 1:58.66 respectively  

Southern Region Indoor Athletics Champs

Jemima Davey (u15G) and Tiggy Guthrie Brown (u13G) competed at Lee Valley Athletics centre for the Sothern Regional Indoor Champs both competing over 800m.

This was both girls first experience of indoor track racing on a 200m banked track in what is a very different event.
 

Up first was the u13G and whilst Guthrie-Brown has had some success in schools cross country races she has a clear preference for shorter distances.
The u13G event was a straight final and she was racing girls her senior so this was very much an experience for her learn her craft.

The Young Harrier stuck to her task very well and was not overawed by the occasion of the corwd and produced a great new pb of 2:37 to finish in a fantastic 4^th position which bodes very well for the future.

Bottom year U13 Tiggy Guthrie-Brown superb PB of 2:37 in her first ever indoor 800m

The u15 girls 800m event had some strong competition with Jemima Davey being one of 3 of the UK top 5 u13 girls from the previous season competing. The Harrier had been drawn in the 4^th and final heat a tough race with the Southern Outdoor champion Bella Taylor but was up for the challenge seeing off a response from a Shaftesbury Barnet athlete Rosen with 150m to go to be able to ease down knowing that she was a fastest loser to finish behind Taylor.

The final was a slow tactical affair and Davey sat at the back of a tight pack seemingly waiting for her moment to inject some pace into the race. With 300m Davey had a window but momentary indecision allowed Barlow and Taylor to get away, Davey pushed hard and finished to take a very creditable bronze medal and valuable experience of racing indoors.

Jemima Davey (62) fine Bronze medal in her first experience of indoor 800m running 

Park Run Records Tumble

16 year old Alice Bates produced a Remarkable 5k park run in preparation for the upcoming championship XC races by slicing 30 seconds from her PB set on the same Northampton Racecourse in Dec 2021, which bring her total improvement over the winter period to 50 seconds. Bates set the third fastest time in the UK for any female with a superfast 17:12 also setting a UK U17 leading time, the fastest U17W time since 2019, and 6th on the UK All-Time U17 W list.

Alice Bates UK Leading parkrun 5k time of 17:12 with the fastest time since 2019 for an U17 W

The time is fastest ever for Junior Women 15-17 over the Racecourse and almost a minute ahead of her nearest rival and is also the fastest time/ course record for the two next age groups SW 18-19, SW 20-24.

Her Coach Shane Smith was hugely impressed with her winter improvements “Alice has been putting in some almost unbelievable sessions this winter, and to slice 50 seconds from her 5k road time in the space of 5 weeks is incredible”. He added “She goes into the upcoming XC Championships in brilliant form and will be looking to finish significantly higher than her best ever placing in a National XC Championship of 39^th “.  

Well Done to all the Harriers in action over the past 2 weeks.